Day: May 27, 2023

Accra, May 27, GNA - Kofa Holdings, a Ghanaian and UK-based energy technology company, has secured funding from Mercy Corps Ventures, Shell Foundation, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Wangara Green Ventures, and a number of Angel investors to reduce emissions. The funding will empower Kofa to accelerate its launch into multiple cities across Ghana with an affordable, sustainable, and customer-driven electricity network using swappable batteries. It said the cost and access to energy, especially in mobility and logistics, had become a major barrier to scaling local businesses, hence the initiative, a release from the Company said. 'As oil and gas prices spike and blackouts continue, the need for resilient energy systems for consumers and small businesses has become essential. ' The statement said there were about 30 million moto-taxis in Africa, spending about $100 billion each year on fuel ($11/day/bike) and that the opportunity to convert riders to use electric bikes was huge. It said the Company's battery-as-a-service model would promote the transition of mobility and generators away from fossil fuels, significantly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases emissions. The statement said the use of electric vehicles, powered by Kofa's batteries, could lead to a significant reduction of emissions, which would impact the environment positively. 'Starting with mobility, the Company offers one of the continent's smartest solutions to switch Africa's 30 million+ gas-powered motorbikes to electric vehicles while offering customers additional ways to use the battery over its lifetime: grid backup at home; grid alternative in sub-urban shops to power retailer appliances, and more,' it said. 'These batteries are packets of energy going cableless, just like the mobile phone went wireless and conquered the whole of Africa a decade ago,' said Mr Toffene Kama, the Investment Principal at Mercy Corps Ventures, said. He said Kofa's battery swap- and- go services would allowed motorcycle riders, drop off depleted batteries at charging stations located in key locations within major cities in Ghana and exchange them for fully charged ones. The innovative service is accessible and affordable to all, regardless of gender or income, promoting equal access to clean energy solutions across Ghana. With an ambitious goal of reaching 10 million customers across Africa actively through its battery network, Kofa aims to offset 10 million tons of CO2 per year by displacing petrol.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), May 27, GNA - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has advised Ghana not to be heavily dependent on loans for its long-term national development. Professor Kevin Chika Urama, Chief Economist of AfDB, said that relying on loans, especially from the capital market, risked not yielding the needed revenue in a short-to-medium term, making repayment difficult. The AfDB Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the just ended annual meetings of the Bank in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. He noted that borrowings to fund long-tern development-oriented programmes and projects often resulted in the accumulation of debt, which put economies into crisis. 'When you depend on borrowing for investing in long-term infrastructure, you have a mismatch because development projects normally take about 30 years or more to offer revenues or dividends or to be able to break even,' he said. Prof Urama said when borrowings were done, particularly at high coupon rates, it sets a country up off for failure, 'because the projects you're putting the resources will not mature when the duration of paying back the loans fall due. 'You're then forced to look for money elsewhere, which is challenging for most African countries because of the fiscal constraints,' the AfDB Chief Economist added.? On Ghana's debt treatment and the recently approved International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan-support programme, he said AfDB was working with Ghana to provide technical and policy support to the country to address the debt challenges. 'We've had meetings with the Finance Minister, both during the IMF/Bank World spring meetings and had a special high-level delegation that went to Ghana to work with the technical teams,' he said. 'Discussions are ongoing and we'll be providing technical assistance and policy-based operations, and we're doing this together with our partners to coordinate support for the country,' Prof Urama told the GNA. Ghana has been locked out of the capital market for more than a year, with an accumulated public debt of GHS434.6 billion (72.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product - GDP) as of December 2022. Meanwhile the Government is optimistic that with the $3bn IMF loan programme, Ghana would be able to return to the market. 'We have positioned ourselves to be able to go back into the International market which had been a source of funding for us during the first three or four years of our government,' President Akufo-Addo said recently. The president who was speaking at the Qatar-Africa Economic Forum in Doha, added that: 'There is no rush but obviously why not take advantage of global savings, it makes a lot of sense to me.? Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister at a press briefing after securing the IMF programme also said that 'Working towards the capital market is important because we then get our ratings up and make the country more attractive for foreign investors, especially [getting] FDI.'? 'Going forward, we'll find ways of ensuring that we're efficient in our deployment [of the $3bn funds] …and ensure efficiency in providing services to the people,' he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kumasi, May 27, GNA - The Asantehene, Otufuo Osei Tutu II, has called on the Government to resource the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), to deliver on its mandate. He said resourcing the University was the way to go to encourage creativity and innovation as a means of job creation which is vital to solving the worsening unemployment situation in the country and around the globe. Speaking at the investiture of Prof. Frederick Kwaku Sarfo as Foundation Vice-Chancellor of AAMUSTED in Kumasi, reiterated the important role Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) plays in the development of Ghana. Established on August 27, 2020, by an Act of Parliament, Act 1026 (2020), the Kumasi campus of AAMUSTED which was part of the University of Education, Winneba was formally known as the College of Technology Education Kumasi (COLTEK). The Mampong campus which dedicated to Agricultural education was also known as the College of Agriculture Education (CAGRIC). Otumfuo commended the Government for upgrading the Kumasi and the Asante Mampong campuses into a full-fledged university after years of advocacy. The King said the last time he visited the University was in 2005 when he attended the congregation of the then Kumasi campus of University of Education, Winneba. 'On that fateful day, I proposed to the government to consider upgrading this campus to a full-fledged university to train technology, technical, and vocational education teachers to teach in schools and colleges. I am convinced today, as I was 18 years ago, that TVET is very important for the development of this nation,' he emphasised. He commended the University's Council, management, staff, and students as well as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for taking the bold step in establishing AAMUSTED. He said Prof. Sarfo's appointment was a vote of confidence in efforts and work in the past and urged him to continue to work even harder. The Asantehene advised the VC to build the capacity of faculty members, review programmes regularly and engage in joint research as well as working to make programmes, products, and faculty relevant in addressing national and global needs and challenges. Prof. Sarfo said there was no clear difference between Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and TVET and as a nation, we should work seriously against the tendency to underestimate TVET and STEM. He said the University was committed to equipping people with the science, art, and craft of teaching TVET because they were confident that the country could achieve quality TVET only when there are quality TVET teachers. He used the occasion to propose that TVET and STEM should be taught in local languages at the basic levels for better comprehension of pupils at those stages.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A new support programme geared towards enterprises wishing to boost their performance by triggering a digital transformation got underway. The programme was launched by Conect Intech - a professional grouping under the Confederation of Tunisian Citizen Enterprises (French:CONECT), in partnership with the Euro-Mediterranean-Arab Association and Club DSI non-profit association. The programme, dubbed DigitIndex, is an opportunity for target businesses to have free-of-charge tailored support in their digital transformation process. Twelve entreprises will be selected for the first edition of this programme. They will have their current situation appraised and will be offered a thorough analysis of their technological process and infrastructure to help them have a better understanding of their specific needs and the opportunities of transformation. A tailor-made digital transformation strategy will be made available for recipients, in addition to the implementation of their digital transformation plan, expert advice and regular follow-up. Training sessions will be organised for these enterprises to familiarise them with new tools and practices in connection to digital transformation. Recipient businesses will have the opportunity to gain access to a large network of partners and experts, allowing them to explore potential collaborations and tap into synergies to speed up transformation. Club DSI Tunisia brings together IT managers of private and public companies and the administration. The Euro-Mediterranean-Arab Association (EMA e.V.) is a German non-profit organisation operating in development cooperation between Europe, especially Germany, and the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse